A leadership coach who co-hosts a workshop or program with another professional should write down an agreement before the first session: who does what, how the money is split, who the contacts belong to, and how it ends. Without it, collaborations start with enthusiasm and often end in awkwardness.
Why a leadership coaching collaboration goes wrong without an agreement
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A co-hosting agreement is a short document setting the rules of a joint project: roles, income, content ownership, how participants are handled and how either person can leave. It is not a lawyer's contract. It is a conversation put in writing.
The story is common. You meet a public speaking trainer, a career change coach or a workplace psychologist. You get on well and decide to create a workshop on women in leadership together. Let's just try it. A few months later the questions come. She did more marketing, you ran more sessions: who deserves what? A participant wants one-to-one coaching: with whom? She wants to rerun the workshop alone using your material: can she? Nobody was wrong at the start. Nobody had decided anything.
What should the agreement include?
- Roles: who prepares content, who leads which parts, who handles sign-ups, payments and participant emails.
- Money: how revenue is split, before or after costs, who collects it and when the other is paid.
- Participants: when someone wants individual coaching afterwards, a simple rule works well: she chooses, and the other coach is thanked or receives a commission agreed in advance.
- Content: what each person brings stays hers; what you created together belongs to both and is not reused alone without agreement.
- Exit: notice period, final commitments to honour, a rule for the contact list.
How do you suggest an agreement without breaking trust?
The usual fear is that mentioning a contract signals distrust. It is the opposite: it shows you take the project seriously. You might say you want this project to last and want to stay on good terms whatever happens, so could you spend an hour writing down how you will work. Draft it together, let each person reread it calmly, then confirm it, even by message. If a point divides you now, that is good news: you found out before you had participants.
Signs you should slow down
Some collaborations should not start even with an agreement: she avoids every money conversation, she asks for access to your clients or contact list before the project exists, roles keep sliding towards you week after week, or your ideal clients differ and the workshop tries to speak to both.
A well-framed collaboration extends a leadership coach's reach; a vague one costs time, money and a relationship.
Planning a joint project and want to frame the agreement first? Book a call.
